Sex in the Sea: Uncovering the Mating Behavior of the Giant Sea Bass

Sea Bass
The Giant Sea Bass: photo by Orange County Register

Brian Clark is a graduate student at California State University Northridge. He is currently crowdfunding his research project “Sex in the Sea: Uncovering the Mating Behavior of the Giant Sea Bass” Here is more from Brian (aka JR) Clark:

The GIANT SEA BASS, Stereolepis gigas, is the big and beautiful goliath of the eastern Pacific. This is a fish that is not only important to its ecosystem, but has been seen as a trophy to fisherman up and down the California coast. Over the years they have been fished to almost extinction and no one was ever able to do scientific research on them. Recently, they have started being spotted in southern California so I thought it would be the perfect time to finally learn a little something about GIANTS. I’m part of Dr. Larry Allen’s Ichthyology lab at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) but we have picked up the nickname as the “Giant Sea Bass Lab.” We are trying to get a well-rounded view on the basic biology and increase the conservation efforts for this endangered fish.

I am looking into the reproductive behavior of this fish and I believe that this study is critical to their preservation. This study will be the first to look at the behavioral aspects and strategies for the fishes within their family, Polyprionidae. Giant sea bass are thought to breed in shallow waters where other species in their family are thought to spawn at extreme depths, making observations not feasible. If you are interested, you can learn more and donate to research here: experiment.com/savethegiants

JR Clark
Brian Clark

A little about myself, I grew up living close to the beach and couldn’t get enough of it. I was always in the water but never really knew what was going on beneath the surface. In school we were only taught about the “beautiful” tropical fishes and never really learned about the beauty of the temperate water fishes, but it was something I was always curious about. So I decided to dedicate my time to studying the temperate waters of California. I started my career as a Marine Biologist at San Francisco State University. While I was there I worked in an evolutionary development lab that focused on fish where I found out that genetic work is not the life for me. I was then given the opportunity to do some research out on Catalina Island and studied dominance behavior of leopard sharks, Triakis semifasciata. It was an awesome project and during the study I realized that I wanted to do observational research on marine organisms, mainly fishes and sharks. Currently, I am a graduate student at CSUN and am extremely excited to be studying Giant sea bass behavior.

As a grad student I don’t have much free time, so when I can, I like to spend the afternoon playing disc golf or just bumming around at the beach. I also recently moved to the Valley and I have made it a mission of mine to try every taqueria in the area (there’s about 10 within a mile of my house). Tacos here are cheap and really really good, so it’s been a fun adventure that my friends and I can partake in!